Calling all top student athletes

This summer, The Record will present the ninth annual Charles Washington Award, which recognizes the top high school senior student-athlete, who also has helped the community. Students from high schools in San Joaquin, Amador and Calaveras counties are eligible to apply.

This summer, The Record will present the ninth annual Charles Washington Award, which recognizes the top high school senior student-athlete, who also has helped the community. Students from high schools in San Joaquin, Amador and Calaveras counties are eligible to apply.

Applications are available at recordnet.com/washingtonapp or applicants can send a cover letter, resume and letters of recommendation to The Record sports department, P.O. Box 900, Stockton, CA 95201. The applicant's name, school, phone number, email address, grade-point average, athletic and academic achievements, extra-curricular activities, community involvement and other pertinent information also should be included. Applications by phone will not be accepted. The deadline is May 15.

Applicants must be in their senior year. The selection criteria is weighted 50 percent on athletic achievement, and 25 percent each on academic achievement and community service. The applications will be evaluated by a panel of judges. Five finalists will be selected with the winner coming from that group.

The Charles Washington Award recipient and the other four finalists will be featured in a special Salute to the Preps sports section in The Record. The area's high school boys and girls athletes of the year also will be unveiled in the same edition.

Past recipients of the Charles Washington Award have been St. Mary's graduate Willie Tuitama, Maya Rendulic of Linden, Franklin's Yusef Juma, Mark Rea of Edison, Lincoln's Jordan Enos, Keilani Kitagawa of Edison, Ripon Christian's Logan Vos and Shawn Moua from Chavez. Each recipient's name is engraved on a crystal bowl trophy on display in the lobby of The Record. This year's winner will receive a $500 scholarship from the Coach Charles Washington Foundation.

Past winners of the award exemplified the work ethic, values and community involvement that personified its namesake, Charles Washington, a coaching legend at Edison High. Washington counseled and mentored countless students as an administrator with Stockton Unified School District. He was the first black football coach in Northern California and guided the Edison football team to a 133-54-6 record with six league titles from 1965-83. Washington died in February 2009 at age 76.

Washington's daughters, Hillary, who lives in San Leandro and works for Sephora in the Bay Area, and Cheryl, who lives in Los Angeles and works for Disney, are involved in the selection process.

"It's a tremendous honor every time we send the award out," Hillary Washington said. "It's about helping kids and we meet the kids and they are overjoyed. It means a lot to them."